After the War
by HermioneGymnast
Summary: Harry Potter has fufilled the prophesy and defeated Lord Voldemort. Now, his son and daughter are attending Hogwarts... this is my first fiction, please R&R!
1. The Hogwarts Express

_Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and a lot of other characters in this story. However, I do own some of them, such as Lily, James, Oliver and Sarah._

After the War

Chapter One

The Hogwarts Express

Lily Potter sat on the end of her bed, reading. Her glasses kept sliding off her nose and her long red hair was flowing down her back. A million times had she asked her mother if she could cut it, but the answer had always been the same: "No Lily, your hair is so beautiful, why would you want to cut it?"

Lily closed her book and walked over to her baby sister, Molly's, crib. She was sound asleep. Lily pulled Molly's blankets up to her chin and stroked her thin layer of hair. Molly rolled over and Lily smiled.

Across the hall, Lily's fraternal twin, James, was playing a game of Exploding Snap with Bill, their six-year-old brother. Just then, the boys' father came in. James was the spitting image of his father, Harry. He had the same emerald green eyes and black hair the stood up in the back. The only differences were that James didn't have a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead.

"Your mother says you have to go to bed boys, you're starting at Hogwarts tomorrow, James," Harry said. "Goodnight."

Nearly one hundred miles away, Oliver and Alexander Weasley were at their muggle grandparents' house, playing video games.

"Ron, I think it was a mistake for my parents to introduce Oliver and Alex to those video games, they're hooked! And Oliver is starting school tomorrow!" exclaimed Hermione Granger Weasley, watching her sons play the games.

"Nonsense, Hermione," said Ron "It's good that they're being introduced to muggle technology."

Hermione gave Ron a stern look.

"Anyway," she said, "Harry and Ginny want to meet us at King's Cross on Sunday at ten forty-five; Lily and James are starting Hogwarts too."

"I know, Hermione, it's to bad Oliver and James don't get along…" Ron added sarcastically.

Hermione gave a weak smile. "All right, well, we better get the boys to bed, Oliver has a big day coming up," she said.

"William Sirius Potter! Get off the table this instant!" cried Ginny, lifting Bill off the table, "Honestly, we're going to be late to meet Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione, now go get dressed!"

Bill ran from the kitchen and up the stairs to his room.

"Lily! Are you ready to go?" Ginny called. She was very stressed. It was already five past ten; they were going to be late.

"I'm ready, Mum," Lily called, walking down the stairs carrying Molly.

"Thank you," Ginny said, taking Molly from Lily. "Is your trunk in the car?"

"Yes," said Lily.

"Good, go get James and your father."

"Okay," Lily replied, "James, Dad, come on, we're leaving!"

"That's not what I meant," said Ginny. Lily shrugged.

As soon as everyone was ready to go, they all piled into the car and left for King's Cross. They finally made it to the barrier between platforms nine and ten at ten fifty-five.

"Thank goodness!" exclaimed Hermione when she saw them. Alex was at her side, clinging to her skirt. "I sent Ron and Oliver in already, I was afraid they were going to miss the train!"

"Sorry," said Ginny, "It was a little hectic at our house this morning…" she stared down at Bill who grinned back.

"Well, we better get going," said Harry. He and the rest of the family walked though the barrier.

Harry watched as Ginny put Lily on the train and waited until she and Hermione were engaged in conversation before turning to his eldest son.

"James, I have something for you," he said. From his pocket, he pulled a miniature broomstick.

"A broom model?" asked James, staring at it.

"No," said Harry. He glanced nervously over at his wife and then preformed a spell on the little broom. It immediately grew into a full-sized Firebolt.

"Your Firebolt?" James exclaimed.

"Shhh!" Harry said. "Yes, I know you not supposed to have a broom, but I really want you to play Quidditch. Make me proud!"

"I will!" said James. He opened his trunk and placed the Firebolt inside andran off toward the train.

"James!" Harry called, "One more thing, let's keep this our little secret, okay? Don't even tell Lily."

"Okay, Dad," James replied.

Lily stood on the Hogwarts express, watching as it slowly left the platform. She turned on the spot to go find a compartment, or James and Oliver; whichever came first.

She walked for a while until she found a compartment with her cousin Joanna and her friends in it. Joanna was Lily's uncle Fred's eldest daughter (he had four named Joanna, Shauna, Kara and Mc Kayla) and she and Lily never go along. Joanna always said that Lily was "too young for her"; though Lily didn't think one year was very much of a difference.

Lily walked though the compartment and Joanna pretended she didn't even know her.

After about ten more minutes of walking, Lily found a compartment with only one person in it: a girl who looked about her age. She had blue eyes, short brown hair, and was gazing out the window with her chin rested on her hand.

"Uh, hi," said Lily uncertainly. The girl turned. "I'm Lily Potter, this is my first year at Hogwarts."

"Are you related to Harry Potter?" she asked. _Of course_, thought Lily. That was always the first question anyone asked when she told the person her name.

"Yeah," said Lily, "He's my dad."

The girl nodded. "I'm Sarah King, and I'm in first year as well." She said.

"May I sit down?" asked Lily.

"Sure," said Sarah.

Lily and Sarah immediately became best friends. Then around three thirty, James and Oliver entered the compartment.

"Hey Lils, got any money? I need some," said James.

"What for?" asked Lily.

"Like we're gonna tell you!" snapped Oliver.

"Then you don't get any money," Lily said, crossing her arms.

"Who's she?" asked James, eying Sarah.

"That's Sarah," Lily replied, "Sarah, this is my annoying brother, James."

"You mean your wonderful brother, James" James said, and he and Oliver left the compartment. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Ah, it's good to be an only child," said Sarah. Lily pushed her playfully.

* * *

Okay, well there's chapter one! I hope you liked it! Mind you, this is my first fiction, so I'm kind of new to this, please R&R! 


	2. Sorting

Chapter Two

Sorting

A few hours later, after all the students changed into their robes, the train began to slow down. When it reached the Hogsmade Station, James and Oliver collected their things and left the train.

It was very hectic outside but a voice to the boys' left was calling "First years, line up over here please! First years!"

James and Oliver followed the voice. Professor Grubby-Plank (Hagrid's successor) was standing with a lantern at the other side of the platform calling for the first years.

Lily and Sarah met up with James and Oliver in Professor Grubby-Plank's group of first years. They were told that they were going to sail across the lake to Hogwarts.

Lily, James, Sarah and Oliver shared a boat. As they rounded a corner, the Professor told them that they would be getting their first glimpse of the school soon; and they did. It was a huge, magnificent castle with many towers and lights gleamed from almost every window.

Once out of the boats and inside the castle, the first years met up with Professor McGonagall, the headmistress of the school.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," she said, "In a few moments, you will walk though these doors and join your classmates, but first, you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. While you are here, your house will be like your family. You will eat at your house table, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room. Your triumphs will earn you house points, any rule breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup. The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily."

After a few minutes, McGonagall came back. "We are ready for you now," she said.

She led them into the beautiful Great Hall. A three-legged stool with an old patched wizard's hat on top of it had been placed in front of the staff table.

"Now when I call your name," said McGonagall, "I will place the sorting hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses. Arbor, Peter."

Student after student were sorted. Then came "King, Sarah." Lily hugged Sarah and let her go up to the stool. The hat was on her head for about fifteen seconds, and then it yelled "GRYFINDOR!"

Sarah smiled, hopped off the stool and headed to the Gryffindor table. She flashed Lily a thumbs-up sign, which Lily returned.

The next name that was called caught both Lily and James's attention. It was a name that their father hated. A name that caused James to flinch at the sound of it…

" Malfoy, Warren," called McGonagall.

Warren Malfoy had his father's slick white-blond hair and cool gray eyes. The hat barely touched his head when it shouted " SLYTHRIN!" Malfoy smirked and walked over to the Slytherin table.

About five more students were sorted, then McGonagall called "Potter, Lillian."

The whole hall filled with whispers. Everyone was anxious to see Harry Potter's daughter sorted.

Lily took a deep breath, walked up the steps and sat down on the stool as McGonagall placed the hat on her head. Lily waited, then heard the hat whisper in her ear…

_"Hmm, difficult, just like your father before you. Ah, a lot of courage, but yet, a strong mind, plenty of talent, oh yes. An excellent choice would be Gryffindor - _"Yes, oh yes, please!" Lily thought._ - You'd like that, wouldn't you? Alright, make it Gryffindor!"_

Lily heard the last word shouted out to the whole hall. She gleefully left the stool and went to join Sarah at the Gryffindor table.

"Welcome to Gryffindor, Lily!" said Jamie Weasley. Jamie was another one of Lily's cousins (Bill and Fleur's daughter). She looked just like her veela mother, was head girl and captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team (Jamie played seeker).

Lily watched up at the staff table, James was about to be sorted.

"Potter, James"

More whispering filled the Great Hall. James walked slowly up to the stool and sat down. The hat was placed upon his head.

_"Another Potter? Hmm, your placement is obvious; of course, it's in your blood, GRYFINDOR!"_

James gave a satisfied look as he headed toward the table. He knew there was no way he could be placed in any other house. He sat down next to Lily who congratulated him and waited for Oliver to be sorted.

Oliver was on the stool for about five seconds before that hat declared him a Gryffindor.

McGonagall gave a short speech, forbidding students to go into the Forbidden Forest and things like that, and then the students had dinner. After the feast was over, Jamie led all of them upstairs to the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Password?" she said.

"Wattlebird," said Jamie.

The portrait opened reveling the Gryffindor common room. It was filled with armchairs, couches, coffee tables and three fireplaces.

"Welcome to Gryffindor tower. The boys' dormitories are the staircases on the left and the girls on the right. All of your belongings have already been brought up."

Lily and Sarah bade James and Oliver goodnight and the four of them went up to bed.


	3. The Substitute Seeker

Chapter Three

The Substitute Seeker

The Wednesday after classes started, a notice about Quidditch tryouts went up on the board:

Quidditch Tryouts Saturday, September 6 at 1:00 pm

Captain Jamie Weasley is looking for two chasers and one beater. Please do not miss this opportunity to be on the Gryffindor team.

"You gonna tryout, James?" asked Oliver.

"Naturally," James replied, "I shouldn't tell you this, but my dad gave me his Firebolt, its upstairs in my trunk."

"No way!" said Oliver, "But first years aren't allowed brooms."

"I know, but my dad gave it to me anyway," James said.

"You better hope nobody finds out," Oliver whispered, "So, what position are you gonna tryout for?"

"Well, I really wanted to be a seeker, like my dad, but dear cousin Jamie has that job. I guess I'll go for chaser, like my mum and granddad."

So at twelve forty-five on Saturday, James, Oliver, Lily and Sarah headed down to the Quidditch pitch (Oliver, Lily and Sarah were there to support James).

Jamie auditioned the chasers first. James only missed one goal but unfortunately, two other boys, a third year and a fifth year, didn't miss any.

"But you have to let me on the team, I'm your cousin!" James yelled at Jamie.

"Yes, and your also only a first year, a whiny one I might add, and Kyle and Mark were better than you, being my cousin has nothing to do with it!" Jamie exclaimed.

Furry bubbled up inside James. Then, forgetting everything else, James punched Jamie in the stomach. Jamie fell to the ground, cursing. Everyone turned to see what was going on.

"James no!" cried Lily, running forward. Unfortunately, Professor McGonagall had seen the whole thing.

"Mr. Potter!" she called, "One week of detention and ten points from Gryffindor! I can't believe how outrageous your behavior was!"

"That was a bloody good hit, mate," said Oliver. The foursome was sitting in the common room after dinner.

" Yeah, but it cost me ten points and one week of detention!" said James.

"You should have tried out, Lily," Oliver said,quickly changingthe subject.

"Me? Why?" Lily asked.

"Don't be modest, I've seen you play before, you're brilliant!" Oliver assured her.

Lily shrugged.

The day before the first Quidditch match of the year (Slytherin versus Gryffindor), Lily and Sarah were down at the pitch watching the team practice. They told Jamie they'd watch and tell them how good they were doing compared to the Slytherins (whom they had spied on yesterday).

Then, suddenly, a bludger came out of nowhere and hit Jamie in the back of the head. Blood flew out of her mouth as she started to fall to the ground.

"Catch her!" cried Keeper Nicole Wood.

Lily and Sarah ran onto the field and caught Jamie just in time. Blood was still coming out of her mouth.

"It looks like she has a bad concussion," said Nicole, examining her, "Mark, Kyle, get her to the hospital wing, and hurry!"

Mark and Kyle levitated Jamie off the pitch and into the castle.

"Great," said Nicole, "Just great! How are we supposed find a seeker now, the match is tomorrow!"

"I can do it," said Lily. The whole team stared at her. "My mum and dad were both seekers and one time, I beat my dad to the Snitch!"

Nicole handed Lily her broom. "Let's see how good you are," she said.

"You're actually considering this!" cried Holly Spinet, "She's only a first year! Surely you could-"

"She's Jamie's cousin and Harry Potter's daughter!" Nicole interrupted, "And, she the only chance we've got."

Lily kicked off the ground hard. It felt good to be flying again, for she hadn't flown since the summer. Within two minutes, Lily had caught the Snitch and landed smoothly on the ground.

Everyone except Sarah was gaping at her. The Nicole slowly began to clap.

"Well done, well done," she said, "Will you play seeker for us tomorrow? Just once, until Jamie heals."

"I-you-she-" sputtered Holly. "A first year can't do this!"

"It's okay Holly, just for one match, Lily's got talent!" said Nicole. She turned to Lily. "I know you don't have a broom, but could you barrow one from someone?"

"Yeah, I think I know someone…" Lily said, smirking.

"James, I need Dad's Firebolt," Lily demanded. She and Sarah had just returned from the Quidditch pitch to find James and Oliver in the common room doing homework.

"What? What do you need it fo-" James stopped dead, "I mean, uh, you'll have to ask Dad. _I_ don't have it!"

Lily put her hands on her hips and gave James a stern look.

"I know you have it, I heard you telling Oliver, now hand it over, I'm playing in the match against Slytherin tomorrow and I need a broom."

"What!" cried James and Oliver together.

"You didn't even tryout, plus the team's full, why would they need you?" asked Oliver.

"Jamie got hit in the head with a bludger and can't play tomorrow so Lily volunteered to be the Seeker. Nicole Wood watched her catch the Snitch, so Lily's going to be the seeker tomorrow," said Sarah.

"What!" said James again, "Lily how could you do this? You know how badly I wanted to play! Why didn't you tell Wood that I could play? I can't believe you!"

"James, I-" Lily started, but James stormed up the stairs to the boys dormitories and slammed the door. Oliver picked up James's stuff that he had left behind, shook his head and went upstairs.

"How could she do this?" James asked when Oliver entered the room, "When Dad finds out I lost out to a girl, especially Lily, he's going to be so disappointed in me!"

James took off one of his shoes and threw it against his nightstand causing a bottle of ink to fall off and smash on the floor.

"Great," said James.


	4. The Quidditch Match

Chapter Four

The Quidditch Match

The next morning dawned bright and sunny, great Quidditch conditions. Lily and Sarah walked down Gryffindor table for breakfast. Lily sat down next to James, Sarah at her side.

"Listen James," she started, "I wasn't thinking, I should have told Nicole you could play. I'm sorry."

James looked for a minute as though he was going to except Lily's apology, but then thought better of it. Lily had betray him, she had gone off and taken all the glory for herself. James pretended like he didn't even hear her and turned to Oliver.

"Come on, mate, give her a chance!" said Oliver, "I mean, what would you have done? You can play seeker the next time Jamie gets hit in the head with a bludger!"

James stabbed his fork into his scrambled eggs, a little too hard. The eggs flew across the Hall and landed over at the Slytherin table; right on Malfoy's head! Malfoy pulled the eggs out of his hair, threw them onto the floor and stood up on his chair.

"Who threw these?" he sneered, "Who?"

James and Oliver sank low into their seats, trying hard to control their laughter.

"Mr. Malfoy!" cried McGonagall, who just happened to be walking by the Slytherin table at that very moment, "Sit down and behave yourself! Ten points from Slytherin! You should know better than to stand up in your seat and yell across the room!"

And that lifted James's sprits more than anything else.

* * *

Naturally, Lily had owled her parents that she was playing in match as soon as she was done asking James for his broom. Harry and Ginny were so proud of their daughter and were coming to the match to see her play; Bill and Molly were coming as well.

Now, as Lily stood in the locker room changing into her robes, she began to get really nervous. If she messed up, not only would the whole school she it, but so would her mum and dad, and Lily didn't want them to be disappointed in her.

All dressed, the team walked out onto the pitch to an enormous applause. Lily, squinting in the sunlight, immediately spotted her family. Both her parents were cheering loudly. Bill sat next to Harry, waving a Gryffindor flag and Molly was on Ginny's lap, clapping her hands and enjoying all the excitement.

"Captains shake hands," said Madam Hooch, and Nicole and the Slytherin captain shook hands. "Mount your brooms. On my whistle…three…two...one…"

She blew the whistle and everyone soared into the sky. Then, the commentator's voice started up; it was Joanna Weasley.

"And they're off!" she cried, "Due to an injury during practice yesterday, Captain Jamie Weasley of the Gryffindor team has been replaced by Lillian Potter. I think we are all surprised that the team would chose a first year as a substitute, not a very suitable choice…"

"Oh just ignore her, Lily!" said Nicole seeing the aggravated look on Lily's face. "Concentrate on catching the Snitch, you can do whatever you want to Joanna later!"

Lily nodded and soared up to the top of the pitch to scan the whole place for the Snitch; this was a tactic her father had taught her.

Out in the stands, Ginny turned to Harry. "Honestly, I love Fred, but Joanna could be a little nicer to Lily. They never really got along."

"Lighten up, Ginny," Harry replied. Ginny sighed and returned to watching the game.

Meanwhile, Lily was up at the top of the stadium keeping an eye out for the Snitch. In the past four minutes, Nicole had scored three goals so Gryffindor was leading thirty to zero. Lily wanted to catch the Snitch, but now, at the same time, she didn't. If she caught it, everyone would be proud of her and she would be the hero, but then James would be shunned into the shadows making him even more jealous of her than he already was. On the other hand, if she didn't catch the Snitch, everyone be mad and disappointed in her and she would be known as the stupid first year who lost the Quidditch match.

Then, Lily saw it. The Snitch was floating just below Joanna and her stupid commentator's podium. She made her choice and shot toward Joanna, her eyes fixed upon the tiny golden ball.

"Lily! I said leave Joanna alone until the match is over!" cried Nicole.

"She's coming right at me!" screamed Joanna, ducking under the podium.

Lily stretched out her arm and grasped the little ball. She hurled back the ground as the crowd began to shout and cheer.

"I don't believe it," said Joanna into megaphone, "Lily Potter has caught the Snitch, Gryffindor wins!"

The whole team surrounded Lily, screaming and cheering.

"I knew you could do it!" said Nicole.

"Very impressive," replied Holly.

Lily looked over Holly's shoulder to her family walking across the pitch.

"Great job, Lily," said Ginny, "Really great, I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks, Mum," said Lily.

"Hey, check this out!" said Bill. He opened his mouth into a wide grin, his two front teeth were missing. "And Molly learned to walk last week! You've missed so much!"

"That's great, Bill," said Lily, not really listening to him. Her mind was now focused on James, who was standing alone a good twenty feet from everyone else.

Lily broke free from the crowd and walked over to James.

"I'm really sorry, James," she said.

"It's okay," James answered, "Oliver was right, I would have done the same thing you did. I was just frustrated, that's all."

Lily smiled and pulled her brother into a hug.


	5. I solemnly swear I am up to no good

_Thank you to all my reviewers: ruskie4u, Crystalshard, vonn, Dracos-naughty-lil-girl, born2read, Cybedragon, LittleOneOfDoom, old-crow and HarryPotterFan-Numero1. Between school and gymnastics, I might not get another chance to write until Tuesday or Thursday, so here's chapter four…_

Chapter Five

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

Jamie left the hospital wing on Sunday and was very pleased to learn that her team had done well in her absence. She was especially happy that her own cousin had replaced her as seeker and that she had caught the snitch very quickly.

Nearly a month after the Quidditch match, James was rummaging in his trunk for his Potions book; he had spent the better part of an hour searching for it. Oliver watched in amusement as James tossed his last remaining robe onto the floor with the rest of his things.

"That's it!" he declared, "I can't find it anywhere! That Potions book is gone!"

"What's that?" asked Oliver. He pointed to a piece of parchment lying at the bottom of the trunk.

"Not my book!" said James, throwing himself onto his bed.

Oliver bent down, retrieved the parchment and unfolded it. "It's blank," he said.

"Obviously, brainiac, it's probably been in there since my dad went to school; this is his old trunk," James replied, snatching the paper out of Oliver's hands.

Oliver looked back into the trunk. "Hey," he said, "There's something else here too!"

Oliver removed the second thing from the trunk. It was a small slip of parchment with ten words written on it:

I solemnly swear I am up to no good. Mischief managed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked James.

"Dunno," said Oliver, "Wait, say it to the parchment!"

"What!" said James, "I'm not going to start talking to parchment Oliver, I never even did that when I was little! However, I do recall that _you_ used to talk to a stuffed bear named Mr. Wiggles. Talk to your own stupid parchment."

"Fine!" Oliver said. He picked up the paper and said the first of the two lines. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." The paper remained black. Oliver frowned.

"See, what did I tell you, nothing happened!" James stated.

But Oliver ignored him, walked over to his night table and picked up his wand.

"What are you doing _now_?" asked James.

Oliver took the parchment, tapped his wand gently upon it and repeated the words "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

Suddenly, lines began to form all across the parchment. They crisscrossed and zigzagged to every corner. The top of the Parchment bore the words:

Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

_Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief Makers_

_are proud to present_

_THE MARAUDER'S MAP_

"Don't you remember that story about his map our dads told us about when we were five?" asked Oliver.

"Oliver, I can barely remember what McGonigall said in Transfiguration today." James declared.

Oliver sighed. "This map shows each and every detail of the castle and all the people in it! Look, there's Lily and Sarah in the common room, doing homework, the Ravenclaw Quidditch team out at practice, everything's right here! There's even-"

"-secret passage ways out of the castle, I remember now!" said James.

"Oh, this is going to be so cool!" said Oliver, "We'll know where everyone is and we can even leave the castle or get food from the kitchens! Do you think we should tell the girls?"

James and Oliver exchanged glances, then both said, in unison, "Nah!"

"Let's go test it now!" said James.

"We can't, it's nearly nine, it's to late," said Oliver disappointedly.

"It's never to late when you have an invisibility cloak," James replied slyly.

"Where the hell are you going to get an invisibility cloak? They're really rare!" Oliver asked.

"Well, after Mum found out Dad had given me the Firebolt, Dad felt guilty about not giving Lily anything, so he gave her the invisibility cloak, he has a spare one at work anyway," James said.

"Wicked," said Oliver, "Let's go get it now!"

"Alright, it's probally in her trunk, but we have to be really quiet."

Oliver nodded and the boys tiptoed out of the dormitory. They made it about halfway up the staircase to the girls dormitory when the stairs turned into a slide and the boys slip-slided back down to the bottom of the stairs.

"Well that's cheap!" said Oliver.

"What are you two doing?" asked Lily as she and Sarah approached the boys.

"I…uh…we were just, uh…" James sputtered.

Sarah raised one eyebrow.

"We need your invisibility cloak if you _must _know!" said Oliver.

James hit him on the arm. "Oliver!"

"If we want to get it, we're going to have to tell them!" Oliver yelled.

"Tell us what? You're not getting any of our stuff unless you tell us what's going on," said Lily.

"Alright, fine!" said James, "Here's what happened…"


	6. Dylan Evans and Ben Beeman

_Thank you to all my reviewers and my newest one, Zippy-Wings. Sorry this chapter took so long, my little brother was experimenting with pop-up adds and it took my dad nearly three days to fix my computer. Welcome to chapter six! _

Chapter Six

Dylan Evans and Ben Beeman

"Okay, so your story is that James left his Potions book in the Transfiguration classroom and you need the invisibility cloak to go get it? Is that correct?" asked Sarah.

James and Oliver both nodded vigorously.

"Well, I don't really need the cloak right now, but since you're obviously not telling truth and refuse to do so, you can use it _tomorrow _night," said Lily.

Oliver instantly began to protest, "Oh, come on, Lily! Ju-"

James clamped his hand over Oliver's mouth. "Relax," he said, "We're getting it; we can wait one day. Now let's go before Lily changes her mind."

Once a good ten feet away from the girls, Oliver said, "You know, you never did find your book."

"Shut up, Oliver," said James.

So right after their classes were over the next day (James was punished severely by Snape for not having his book), James and Oliver went and asked Lily for her cloak.

"Here it is," she said handing it to Oliver, "I don't want any damage done it, got it?"

"Alright, alright," said James hastily.

Lily and Sarah stood in font of the boys while they put the cloak on so nobody would see them disappear. James and Oliver fit comfortably under it. Sarah walked over to the portrait hole and opened it so they could leave.

"Where to?" asked Oliver, "We can do anything, we're invisible, we're free!"

"Okay, that was really cheesy," replied James as he pulled out the map, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good. Hmmm…I've got an idea! Let's go to Hogsmade!'"

"Hogsmade!" repeated Oliver, "You're insane! We're _not_ sneaking off the grounds! And anyway, aren't there protection charms all around the school?"

"Not here, there's not," said James. He pointed to a statue about halfway down the third-floor corridor. "It seems that this passageway leads right into Hogsmade."

"Are you sure?" asked Oliver, peering over James's shoulder.

"Positive, c'mon, let's go!"

The two friends ran as fast as they could (which wasn't very fast, seeing as they had to stay hidden underneath the cloak) to the third-floor corridor.

"What do we do?" asked Oliver once they had reached the statue of the one-eyed witch.

James looked down at the map. Two ink figures, labeled _James Potter _and_ Oliver Weasley, _were standing in front of the statue. James's figure seemed to be tapping the statue with his wand. A little speech bubble suddenly appeared next to his figure. The word inside it said, "_Dissendium_."

Making sure no one else was around; James pulled the cloak off Oliver and him. He took out his wand and tapped the statue.

"Dissendium," he said.

Suddenly, the statue's hump opened wide enough for one small person to fit through.

"Nice work," said Oliver as James tucked the invisibility cloak and map away.

"I'll go first," James said.

After walking down a long narrow passageway and up nearly two hundred fifty steps, the boys hit their heads on something hard.

"I think it's a trapdoor!" Oliver whispered excitedly.

Slowly, the boys pushed open the door and peered over the edge. They were in a small cellar filled with many wooden boxes and crates. They lifted themselves out of the passageway and replaced the trapdoor. They climbed up a set of stairs across the room. They reached a door at the top of the stairs and quietly slid through it.

They were behind the counter of Honeydukes. There weren't very many customers, about eight in total. The boys crept out from behind the counter and began grabbing all kinds of sweets: nougat, coconut ice, toffees, chocolates, Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, levitating sherbet balls and tons of different special effect sweets like Droobles Best Blowing Gum, Pepper Imps, Ice Mice and sugar-spun quills.

When James and Oliver walked up to the counter to pay for their things, the shopkeeper asked, "Aren't you boy's Hogwarts students?"

James hesitated. "Er, no, of course not," he said, "We live here in the village, we're only ten; we won't be starting Hogwarts until next year."

"Do your parents know you're out right now?" asked the shopkeeper.

"Naturally," said Oliver, "But we have to be back by eight, so could you please hurry up?"

"Alright, I have one more question," said the shopkeeper as she began bagging the boys' sweets, "What are your names?"

"I'm, er, Dylan, er, Evans, yeah, Dylan Evans. And this is, er…" said James.

"Ben Beeman," Oliver butted in.

"Right," said James, "Good old Ben!"

The shopkeeper gave them an awkward look. "Whatever," she said.

James and Oliver paid for their sweets and left the store as quickly as possible and began walking up High St.

"Dylan Evans?" asked Oliver, "Where did that come from?"

"Evans was my grandmother's maiden name and Dylan just sort of slipped out," James replied coolly, "And what about you, Mr. Beeman?"

"Ben Beeman was my friend from muggle primary school, I had always liked his name," Oliver added thoughtfully.

"So," said James, "Where to now, Ben?"

"I dunno, how about Zonko's, Dylan?"

And the boys laughed themselves to the joke shop.

At around nine o'clock, "Dylan" and "Ben" put on the invisibility cloak and headed back to the trapdoor in the cellar of Honeydukes.

When the boys were about halfway back to Hogwarts, rocks began falling from the ceiling of the tunnel. Then, quite suddenly, the roof collapsed. James and Oliver ducked out of the way of the falling ceiling. The pathway was completely blocked.

"Bright idea going to Hogsmade, 'Dylan'!" cried Oliver.

"Calm down!" James shouted, "We've just got to find another way back to the castle."

"And how do you think we're going to do that?" asked Oliver.

"Let's get out of here first," said James and Oliver nodded.

Once safely under the cloak and outside of Honeydukes, James pulled out the Marauder'sMap.

"Hmm…the only other passageway I can think of is this one here," said James, pointing to a spot on the map.

"You know where that leads, don't you, James?" asked Oliver unsteadily.

James shook his head. Oliver pointed to the Shrieking Shack.

"Let's do it," said James.


	7. Two Birds With One Stone

_A/N: I'm very sorry for the month-long delay. I know not a single one of you cares about my personal life but I've had a gymnastics competition every weekend for the past four weeks so I've been at the gym for about 17 hours a week. And for anyone who cares I qualified for the Level Seven State Meet on November 26, wish me luck!_

_A/N II: Thanks to Malina and Emily for pre-reading and improving this chapter, I didn't realize how crappy my writing was until you guys pointed it out, your constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. Thanks to all my readers and reviewers. This chapter is dedicated to someone special, you know who you are._

Chapter Seven

Two Birds With One Stone

"Lily, stop pacing, you're making me crazy!" Sarah cried.

"I can't help it!" Lily said, flopping into the chair beside Sarah's. "It's been nearly three hours, where the hell are they? How long does it take to go down into the dungeon and get a stupid book?"

"Calm down, it's ten o'clock, you should get some sleep." Sarah replied.

"That's my point! It's ten! What if Snape caught them and they get detention, or worse, they got hurt?" Lily heaved a great sigh, "I really hope they're okay. I mean, most of the time I can't stand James, but he's my brother, you know, and I love him."

"Don't worry Lily, they'll be okay," Sarah pulled Lily into a tight hug, "They'll be fine."

"I hope so," Lily said.

* * *

"This was a stupid idea, probably the dumbest one you've ever had. Even worse than the time you decided to see what would happen if you drank that pink potion in the vile. You didn't bother to read the label, did you? 'Makes the drinker fall in love with the first woman he sees!' Well, the first woman you happened to see was my mother! Thank God that wore off after an hour, Mum was getting really-"

"Oliver! Is it possible for you to be quiet for just five minutes! You're almost as bad as Lily, and that's sating something," James said, frustrated. They had finally found their way into the Shrieking Shack and were walking down the crumbling, dust-covered staircase.

"There! Look, Oliver! A door!" James cried.

"Finally!"

But they had just entered another room. Everything in the room was broken and, just like the rest of the house, wallpaper was peeling, there were stains on the floor and all the windows were boarded up.

"Ugh! Is there no end to this nightmare!" Oliver yelled.

James walked around and scanned the room while Oliver continued to mutter to himself.

"Look at this!" said James. " It's a tunnel!" he stuck his head into the hole, "Lumos," he said and climbed inside. "Are you coming or what?" he asked Oliver.

"I dunno," said Oliver, looking at his feet, "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Well, what do you propose we do?" James was becoming frustrated. "Do you just want to wait here until someone realizes we're gone? I would just love to be expelled when we haven't even been in school for two months!"

"Alright, alright, fine, let's go," said Oliver.

"Thank you!" James exclaimed and climbed back in.

* * *

"That's it, I'm going after them, this is ridiculous, come on," Lily said.

"Sit down and relax, Lily. We can't go after them. They have your cloak and they're invisible. We don't have that privilege so it would be much easier for us to get caught," Sarah said reasonably.

"I don't care!" Lily said, throwing her arms up in the air, "Either A) They got caught. B) They got lost. Or C) They got hurt."

"You forgot D)."

"What's D)?"

"They took a detour," said Sarah.

"I'm going," said Lily, beginning to make her way to the portrait hole.

"Lily, I don't-" Sarah started.

"C'mon. We'll just go look in the dungeons and see if they're down there. Please Sarah, I know I'm being rash, but we've got to find them, please?" Lily began to look desperate.

"Alright, fine, but if anything happens, I blame you," Sarah said. Lily smiled.

* * *

The passage way seemed to be as long as the one at Honeydukes. James and Oliver had been walking for what seemed like hours when the finally reached the end. But as soon as James climbed out, something whacked him in the stomach and threw him off his feet.

"James!" Oliver cried, climbing out quickly. But he had barely taken two steps when another of the Whomping Willow's branches hit him as well.

"What the hell? James, we need to get out of here, where's the cloak?" asked Oliver from the ground.

"Oh, it's er, right here!" replied James.

RIP!

James had attempted to pull the cloak out from beneath him but tore it into several pieces.

"James!" Oliver moaned.

"Oh, we can fix it later, let's move!"

The two boys took off running toward the castle.

* * *

"Okay, they're not here, let's go."

"Sarah, I'm not leaving until I find my brother, and his annoying little friend," Lily added as an afterthought.

"You know, his annoying little friend happens to be your cousin," Sarah replied.

"Oh, be quiet!"

"Sorry."

But Lily had to admit that Sarah had a point: being out in the dungeons in the middle of the night was not a good idea. It would be bad enough if they we're caught by McGonagall, but if they were caught by….

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" sneered Snape. Warren Malfoy was at his side.

"But these aren't them!" Malfoy said, "It was Weasley and the Potter _boy_, not his sister and _her_," he indicated Sarah.

"Well, it seems you've killed two birds with one stone," Snape said curtly, "Come, both of you!"

They didn't need telling twice.

As the four of them walked down the dungeon corridor, Snape in the lead, Malfoy whispered to Lily "I deserve revenge on both you _and_ your stupid brother, after what _your_ father did to mine."

Lily and Sarah were silent. They had reached the entrance hall to find James and Oliver bickering in the middle of it. In between them, lay the remains of the invisibility cloak.


	8. Letters and Feelings

_A/N: Special thanks to Malina; again, you've caught many mistakes. You people better thank her; she's done a lot._

_A/N to C__rystalshard: The Level Seven State Meet is a statewide gymnastics competition for girls on a level seven gymnastics team (there happen to be ten levels, level eleven is the Olympic level). To qualify for this, you must have had an overall score of 36.000 of above at a city meet. I scored a 36.783, so I'm going to the meet on November 6 (not 26th, I made a mistake). I know it's confusing and hard to follow, but bare with me here :). _

Chapter Eight

Letters and Feelings

"It's after midnight, the guard said it would happen at midnight on the twenty-seventh, what's holding it up?"

"Calm down, Ron. They're Death Eaters; without Voldemort to tell them what to do and when to do it, there's no way they'll ever be on time!" said Harry.

Ron made a face but nodded and turned back toward Azkaban. The waves from the sea made little rippling noises, almost sounding peaceful. Peace. Something no one thought the world could ever have again.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently. Harry stumbled but got back up immediately, his wand raised.

"Stay still. Be prepared," he called to the Order of the Phoenix, or what was left of them anyway. "They'll be here soon, I know it!"

The walls around the prison began to crumble until they collapsed entirely. From the wreckage emerged several dark figures. Death Eaters. Leading the group was Draco Malfoy.

Harry shot a look at Ginny and she darted away before anyone could see her. She ran as fast as she could to the other side of the island. She still didn't understand why Harry insisted she should be the one to do all the background work. Why couldn't Hermione do it?

Then, as quickly as the earthquake had come, there came a death-defying explosion. Ginny was tossed backwards but took no time getting up. The explosion had come from some fifty feet away; right where Harry, her brother, and nearly everyone else she cared about were.

Bodies were everywhere and few people were still standing. It was almost as bad as the night Voldemort had died. Harry stood with his wand raised, Malfoy ten feet in front of him. A jet of red light shot out of Harry's wand and hit Malfoy squarely in the chest. Malfoy toppled over. Harry swayed on the spot and then slowly collapsed onto the ground as well.

* * *

Ginny Potter awoke with a start. She hadn't dreamt about that fateful night for nearly five years. She rolled over onto her side, expecting to see Harry sleeping peacefully next to her, but he wasn't there. _He must have gone to work early_, Ginny thought.

She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and was on her way to the bathroom when Molly began crying from the room across the hall. Ginny changed direction and headed toward the girls' room.

Molly was just now beginning to pass out of babyhood and was missing her older sister very much. She had taken to waking Ginny up fairly early in the morning to be fed or changed or rocked back to sleep.

Ginny lifted her youngest daughter gently out of the crib.

"Shh, it's alright, Mummy's here," she cooed. But Molly didn't want to go back to sleep, she was hungry. So Ginny walked downstairs into the kitchen, set Molly in her baby seat and poured a bit of dry cereal into a plastic bowl for her and some coffee for herself.

Ginny looked up at the clock. 5:15, it was _much_ too early. Bill probably wouldn't be up until at least nine. Ginny buried her face in her hands as Molly threw some of the cereal onto the floor.

"Ukk!" she declared, clapping her hands and giggling.

Ginny smiled weakly and got up to get the cereal when she noticed an owl flying toward the house. She opened the window and the owl swooped inside. It was a Hogwarts owl and the letter was sealed with the Hogwarts crest.

Looking nervous, Ginny untied the letter from the owl's leg and opened it. It was a letter she hoped would never come.

* * *

Lily sat on her four-poster bed, hugging her knees tightly against her chest. Sunlight was slowly creeping in through the curtains covering the windows. She hadn't been able to sleep. Snape had taken all four them to McGonagal and awarded Warren Malfoy fifty points. Gyffindor _lost_ two _hundred _points and they had all received two weeks' worth of detention. Plus, their parents had been written to. Luckily, Oliver had been able to hide the invisibility cloak but now it was torn to pieces and seemed beyond repair, like her father's Nimbus Two Thousand in that story he used to tell.

Lily dropped onto her pillow and allowed her legs to fling up into the air and drop back down onto the bed. She had been so stupid to go after James and Oliver. It was all her fault. Now everyone in the whole house was going to be mad at her. Especially Sarah, Lily didn't think she could bare that.

"I'm not mad at you at all."

Lily sat bolt upright in her bed. Sarah was sitting on the end of it, her big brown eyes staring straight into Lily's.

"Why would I be mad, when it's as much my fault as it is yours? We should blame, each other, we should blame the boys," she said.

Lily looked dumbstruck. "H-how'd you know what I was thinking?" she asked.

"I don't know," Sarah said, shrugging her shoulders as if it was no big deal, "I just sort of felt it, it was kinda strange."

"Okay," Lily said awkwardly, "Look, I can't sleep, let's just go down to breakfast."

But breakfast wasn't the best idea. The girls walked over to the Gryffindor table to find both James and Oliver staring sadly into their oatmeal.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked, taking a seat at the table.

"This," James replied, trusting a letter into her hands, "I got one too."

Lily looked down at the letter. _Mum's handwriting_, she thought, staring at the envelope. She had know this would be coming, she just didn't know it would be here so quickly.

"Just open it," replied Sarah, "The sooner the better."

Lily nodded and opened the letter.

_LILLIAN MARIE POTTER!_

_I cannot believe this; I honestly cannot believe this! Sneaking out of the tower to go find your brother and cousin! I thought you had more common sense than that! I know that you care for them but you need to leave looking for them to the teachers. Not only did you get in a huge amount of trouble, but you also put yourself and your friend Sarah in danger. I'm not happy with you at all and not finished with you either; I'm still trying to think of a proper punishment. You know I don't like to punish you, Lily, but sometimes I feel like I have to. I love you so much. Please stay safe._

_Love,_

_Mum_

"It's not nearly as bad as mine," said James.

"You read my mail!" exclaimed Lily, "That's a prodigious invasion of my privacy!"

"Do you have to use words like _prodigious_?" James asked, "I don't even know what that means!"

"It means extremely large," said Oliver.

"When did you become Lord of the Smarts," James retorted, "And Lily, I don't like to think of it as invading your privacy. I like to think of it as performing my rightful duty as your older brother."

"James, I'm older. Might I remind you that I was born on February 26 at 9:55 p.m. and _you_ were born at 10:01," Lily replied.

"Oh shut up," said James, returning to his oatmeal.

"You're not being very nice," Sarah said, "You're hurting Lily's feelings."

"No he's not, I'm fine Sarah, really." Lily said quickly.

"No, don't deny it Lily, I can feel it, I know," and with that, Sarah swung her schoolbag over her shoulder and left the Great Hall.

"What's up with her?" asked Oliver.

"I dunno, she's been _feeling_ things lately," Lily said, sounding preoccupied, "Anyway, James, we need to write a letter to Mum and Dad and tell them how sorry we are. We really messed-up big time. How come you're parents didn't write to you, Oliver?"

"They did," Oliver replied, "You missed the Howler."


End file.
